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sk7326

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Everything posted by sk7326

  1. sk7326
    That's frankly not enough ABs for Ramirez (or for that matter Moreland).
  2. sk7326
    Cora is balancing the analytic and human priorities here, especially with the OF rotation. Yes, playing JD in left is suboptimal. But then between the OF and DH there are 5 good players for 4 positions. It's the same with the bullpen - putting guys in spots, see what he has. Obviously the first 50-60 games of the season are not spring training - but you want to learn about your team, and if there are some losses as a result, you kind of grin and bear it.
  3. sk7326
    1. As far as how to keep pitchers healthy - we are all guessing to a degree. (Jeff Passan's The Arm covers this well) Skipping starts vs extra days ... it's hard to say. Now, giving 5 days between starts does seem to help. 2. If you look at what Cora is doing, and what is going on league-wide ... it's going to be a combination of managing pitch counts AND batters faced. If a starter can get through the lineup twice, then you're on schedule. Price and Sale (and Porcello to a degree) have a bit more leeway to dabble into the 3rd trip through the order.
  4. sk7326
    Bradley is in a slump - obviously. Ultimately he should be able to get on base enough to play - just have to ride the current stretch out.
  5. sk7326
    The starting pitcher market is garbage mostly - Cole Hamels and he costs too much. Otherwise, there is not much which is much of an improvement over what just waiting out ERod or Johnson could do.
  6. sk7326
    i think it is more the 5 players for 4 positions thing - Bradley-Betts-Benintendi-Martinez-Ramirez for the OF and DH spots. Given the challenge is finding room for quality bats - it's probably in the area of "good problem". The tricky thing is - since sitting Moreland against lefties does not really give Ramirez enough ABs, how do you keep his bat in the lineup sufficiently.
  7. sk7326
    The NL road games were always naturals to sit OFs.
  8. sk7326
    Wright can help over the season - provide a lot of bulk and is probably good for a hot streak. Obviously, like Wakefield, hard to trust him at all in any sort of tight spot ... nature of the beast.
  9. sk7326
    And they could easily be 5-0 barring one catastrophic inning. What is interesting is that Cora clearly managing to lineup turnover. It's not as simple as "18 batter limit", but once you get to the 3rd time through - there is going to be an exit plan. There is some finesse there - Sale and Price will get a bit more rope than Velasquez - but I expect that pattern to largely hold. It has been a league-wide thing too, at least from the first weekend of results.
  10. sk7326
    Farnsworth had some movement - after all Tampa (ever the miracle workers with other team's garbage) got a terrific season out of him. Kelly is better as a reliever than a starter clearly - but you'd like your relievers to have at least one wipeout pitch.
  11. sk7326
    100 mph without movement suddenly becomes a LOT less special.
  12. sk7326
    this is true, but even Francona did not do this on day 1. (to go back to the Boston days) He did not do that with Papelbon most of the time, but certainly did it as the season rolled on ... and had no qualms doing it in the postseason. Really - there is an element of human stuff here. The only way to know your bullpen can handle high leverage spots is to put the dudes in those spots. The first 40-50 games of the season are about figuring out what you've got. It's not that the wins don't matter - but there is reason to not use a postseason bullpen strategy.
  13. sk7326
    Leon is a much more likely trade candidate on both ends of it ... KC needs a stopgap, Swihart is not proven enough for a team who will still go through the motions of trying to contend. Now BOS could possibly extract more than the sack of potatoes you'd probably get for Leon.
  14. sk7326
    Oh I think today is the "crack a joke, and get back on the horse"
  15. sk7326
    You're not wrong ... and if this were late August, I'd be totally with you. But in terms of managing the roster - the human stuff, not just the analytic stuff - you almost have to ride or die with Smith there, at least on opening day. I can see both points of view here. I just sigh, shrug, and take some reassurance that Bogaerts actually hit the ball hard today.
  16. sk7326
    It's a long season, and showing serial distrust of your relievers on Day 1 is a terrible idea. The pitchers sucked today - but it's also not the time to hit the eject button either. 161-1 is still a good season. BTW: What is the longest streak for a team having an inside-the-park homerun in a game. I guess it's more than the Sox current streak - but it can't be that often.
  17. sk7326
    It's a very long season - these are the sorts of decisions I would get angrier about later in the season. In reality the team has to be able to show they can hold a 4 run lead. Seriously, if you can't win a game like this without going to a postseason strategy, that is a problem of its own. In reality - while Cora will say he will use the closer at the best time, during the slog of the season that really means the odd 4-6 out save. Do you put Kimbrel out for a 5 out save on Day 1? Carson Smith HAS to be entrusted for this job. It's a maddening loss. But it's baseball.
  18. sk7326
    The Yankees won 91 games last year with almost every "variable" they needed to go well actually going well/really well. The Red Sox won 93 games last year with remarkably few of those things going well. The Yankees deserve the hype, but they could easily be worse than last year.
  19. sk7326
    not reinvent - perfect and measure. it helps to be able to identify degree of this stuff - both to convey to players and in terms of evaluation. i agree how it manifests itself is still age old, but it could make it easier to communicate.
  20. sk7326
    WE won 93 games without anybody of our hitters having a great season, and a distinct lack of homeruns. There is a lot of reason to think the Yankees have improved. But - that applies to us too.
  21. sk7326
    The stats don't matter per se. But if there is a real thing which has changed, then it is a different animal. Is Travis executing changes in swing, getting more consistent lift? THAT is what matters.
  22. sk7326
    With Travis, it seems to have been BP power which has not translated into games ... swing angle and whatnot. Is there a good OBP, 15-20 HR bat there? That is the more realistic question. But Swihart makes more sense for sure, especially if the Red Sox try him at more infield spots.
  23. sk7326
    Is this related to batted balls or throws from other infielders
  24. sk7326
    Yes - he sucks by measures which aren't very useful for 1B considering that UZR/DRS does not really account for catching the ball, which is the vast majority of the 1B gig.
  25. sk7326
    To be fair, his defense sucks by UZR numbers - which is significantly less useful to grade 1B ... even so you are right in the bigger picture
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